With Evo TV, your TV instantly changes from being a limited channel, mere relaxation device to a large screen gaming station or movie and music on demand theatre or a learning and education hub.

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Thursday, June 21, 2012:
Think of Amkette and the first name that comes to your mind is floppy discs. While the time of floppy discs is passé, the company has not fizzled out with the trend. Instead it kept moving ahead with time and today it is one of the first companies in India to offer media streaming services to television. EFYTimes spoke exclusively to Rajiv Bapna, director, Amkette to know about their latest EvoTV and the future ahead.

How different is Evo TV from Apple TV or Google TV?

While products like Google TV and Apple TV aim to deliver media streaming to television. What makes the Evo TV unique is it the Evo Touch remote, which is much more advanced than a simple remote control. It works as a Touch Sensitive Air Mouse, a Gaming Controller for Motion Gaming, a Voice Input device for Skype and other VOIP calls, and also as a universal remote for various devices.

Why did you use the Android platform?

Since Android is an Open Source platform, we were able to heavily customize the look and feel of the user interface. On a TV, the concept of a 10-foot user interface - an interface and experience designed to be consumed from afar - is paramount. With many intelligent brains working for us, innovative ideas were implemented to be able to deliver this enhanced user experience. Also, we felt that Android as platform is now widely accepted, with a huge developer community eager to find new avenues to display their work. Further, since Android applications are written in a form of Java, with a rich set of libraries, anyone with a working knowledge of Java can get Android applications up and running with relative ease. This makes the Android platform very compelling for companies like us, which translates to better opportunities for developers to monetize.

How is the system connected to the television? Does the TV require any minimum specifications to run the system successfully?

The Evo TV can be connected to any television by using the supplied HDMI or Composite A/V cable. The Evo TV can work with any television with a HDMI input or a basic AV input. Although since the user interfaces were designed with a wide screen in mind, an HDMI connected panel screen is recommended.

How do you see it revolutionise the TV age?

The television, which was once the centre of the living room, has been replaced by new gadgets such as smart phones, laptops, desktops and tablets. Phones and tablets with fantastic Touch interfaces captured the imagination and expectation of the user. With a wider Internet reach and the rise in HD panel television, innovators around the world have been trying to integrate the television with the Internet. But with high cost and expensive upgradation, the Smart TV is still out of reach of an average user and is also plagued by problems of user interface, navigation and accessibility, and of course a limited number of applications. With all the changes the television has seen in its form factor making it sleeker, it has still remained essentially a device to watch pre-programmed content.To make TV viewing a truly smart and personalised experience, Amkette conceptualized the Evo TV, which promises to provide a simple and an engaging experience, not just for the individual but for the whole family. Amkette conceptualised the Evo TV, to seamlessly integrate the television with the Internet, computer and gaming console, to provide a personalised television experience. Your TV instantly changes from being a limited channel, mere relaxation device to a large screen gaming station or movie and music on demand theatre or a learning and education hub. And the most important factor was to be able to package all this content rich features in to an easy to use interface that can be used by any member of the family. This was achieved through a simple and powerful User Interface backed by possibly the most intuitive and powerful TV remote in currently available.

How have you tied up with the retailers for selling the device?

Initially the device will be available in Delhi (NCR), Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata, and is expected to be available in 40 cities across India by the end of August 2012. The device will be available at key retail outlets and online portals across India.

Where was the device manufactured? Were the parts sourced from outside or the entire manufacturing was done in India?

The device has been completely conceptualised and designed in India (Bengaluru and Delhi) by Amkette through 14 months of R&D, to create the next generation of digital TV. The final manufacturing and assembling of the product takes place in our facilities in Shenzhen, China. Final production and quality testing takes place at our Factory in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

You were once a popular name for floppy drives. How did you shift your business model once floppy drives started to become obsolete?

Amkette was the first-ever domestic manufacturer of floppy diskettes in India. As in then and till now, it has always been Amkette's vision to be at the forefront of IT and consumer technologies. From floppy diskettes, to CD/DVD and now flash drives and whole range of IT peripherals like wireless keyboards and mouses, Amkette has continually strived to offer the consumer the best value for their computing needs. Beyond delivering reliable storage and computing solutions, Amkette also pioneered a new form distribution which included stationary and neighborhood stores in to the IT mix thus widening the reach and penetration of the industry.Today, Amkette is continuing this trend by providing the very best in digital convergence gadgets to consumers. Through Flashtv and Flashtv HD we entered the TV entertainment sector, and have now bridged the divide between an IT product and a consumer product with the Evo TV - a revolutionary device that delivers an unparalleled experience and can be used by all members of the family.